Seize The Day
by insanedairyfarmer
Summary: Josh twigs onto why Shannon's been acting so strangely. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back! I've been awake since 9am Sunday morning (it's currently 12:47am on Tuesday) and this popped out of nowhere. Two-part fic.**

Seize the day. _Carpe diam_. It had been drilled into them from day one.

* * *

After four hours of being cooped up in TR2 on a quiet Thursday night, Stella was just about ready to jump out of the window of the vehicle, run away and never look back. Shannon, who was driving, noted this.

"Josh, I think we should take a break."

The Sergeant nodded, first checking in with Leon, the Intel officer confirming that there was nothing happening in the city.

"Just enjoy it while you can, Josh." Leon bounced a rubber ball on the concrete floor of the Intel room, prompting Kerry to take it. Grinning, Leon pulled another out of his pocket and resumed the activity.

"Shan, take a left up here, there's a 24 hour servo just up the street."

Nodding, Shannon smoothly turned the corner, quickly finding the service station and pulling up.

"Stel, you go in." Josh pulled a fifty out of his wallet. "Three coffees and whatever else tickles your fancy." Stella nodded, unbuckling her seat belt and clambering out of the car, thankful for the opportunity to finally stretch her legs.

[]

As Stella entered the building, Josh turned to Shannon, who was looking in the opposite direction.

"Shan, come on, talk to me." Josh tapped the dashboard. "I can see what's going on."

"What?" Shannon shrugged off the feeling of impending doom.

"You're crushing on Stella, pretty bad if you ask me." Josh grinned.

"You're full of shit, Josh." Shannon turned away again, again glaring at the driver's side window, as if it just stole her muesli bar.

"No, I'm not." He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "You remind me of how I acted around Grace. Always sidestepping, afraid of what I wanted, but knowing that nothing else would give me the same feeling."

Shannon relaxed somewhat, turning to face Josh. "It's that obvious?" Realising her mistake, she puts her hand over her mouth, a look of horror on her face as Josh began to laugh.

"Shan, you've got it bad." Josh smiled. "You know what you have to do?"

Shannon sighed. "It can't be any worse than taking love advice from you, can it?"

"No." He rubbed his hands together. "'_Carpe diam_', Shan. Seize the day."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"What I mean, is don't leave it too late. Take your chance." Josh noticed Stella exiting the service station, carrying their coffees and a plastic bag filled with chip packets.

"I shouldn't have given her that fifty."

**Part 2 should be up around Sunday. I don't like it either, but I've got a birthday pub crawl, a funeral, an 18th and then the 18th cleanup. So R&R, tell me if it sucked, or if you enjoyed it, or whether I should just give up and go and drown myself in a bucket. Heh.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I have a job interview in a couple of hours, I'm still sore from Friday night (it's Sunday now!) and I'm out of bread.**

**StellaLover6: Thanks! I'm glad I made you laugh. Josh playing matchmaker is my ultimate 'want'.  
Annon: If I knew who you were, I'd write a nicer reply! But...  
Wicked: I didn't really want awkward, I just wanted Josh to embarrass Shannon a little. *hands vodka shot***

**Bottoms up!**

**

* * *

**When the occupants of TR2 finally finished their shift (Stella had given Josh back his $50, claiming the chips were free), Shannon had quickly packed up and gone home, leaving Josh and Stella at base.

"See ya, bitch." Stella had picked up her bag, ready to leave.

"Hang on, I need to talk to you for a second." Josh turned from his locker.

"Oh yeah?" Stella leant against the nearest locker, smirking and crossing her arms.

"Yeah." Josh took a deep breath. "You've got the hots for Shannon, right?"

Stella nearly fell over. "W-what?" Her face began to colour.

"I'm not blind."

"Why am I having this conversation with you?"

"Because I'm sick of the two of you skipping around each other. Stel, get your act together, or else you'll lose her." Josh picked up his bag and left, leaving Stella in a state of shock.

"How..."

* * *

The next day, Shannon was unaware that Josh had spoken to Stella. It was the same for Stella, unaware that Josh had had a chat with Shannon. The two women soon encountered one another in the change-room, Stella just arriving and Shannon about to leave.

"Shan, can you wait?" Shannon turned to see Stella hopping out of her jeans, almost tipping herself over. Shannon involuntary licked her lips.

"Uhh..."

Stella took that as a 'yes'. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"Mmm?"

"Well... the thing is... uhh... I was wondering..." Josh's voice suddenly echoed in Stella's head. **'Come on Stella, get your act together, do you want to loose her to Lawson?'**

"Stel?" Stella zoned back in, seeing Shannon tapping her foot impatiently.

"Ugh, fuck it." Dropping everything, Stella crossed the room and quickly captured Shannon's lips with her own.

Shannon's mind went into overdrive. _Oh God, Stella is KISSING ME! I've wanted this for so long! But why? Now? Who cares! _Shannon pushed her thoughts away, focusing on the beautiful brunette.

When the two broke apart, Stella seized Shannon's wrist and quickly looked at the time.

"Twenty-five minutes. We have time."

"For what?"

Stella grinned, and tugged Shannon towards the shower cubicles, locking the change-room door first.


End file.
